Nestled in Durbanville, Le Petit Chateau is a breath of fresh air in a region where hospitality can sometimes fall slightly short of the mark…

Here though, from the moment you arrive, you are treated like one of the family at Le Petit Chateau, as this close-knit team – professionally and smoothly managed by Divine Tshibangu – make sure you feel welcome, spoiled and at home throughout your stay.

Echoes of Africa in the Mother City…

Although the four-star-rated Le Petit Chateau Guest House – an integral part of the slickly run Molo Lolo accommodation brand – is marketed as a “business escape”, it is so much more than that…

A recent one-night stay at this tranquil and homely, yet elegant, guesthouse made me see that Le Petit Chateau is a place where couples, families, business people and even groups of friends or solo travellers (like myself), can enjoy a restful, soothing city stay, all within close reach of both the Cape Winelands and the Mother City’s bustling CBD.

Not only is Le Petit Chateau a quality guesthouse (which, at times, somehow feels like it incorporates the best elements of both a warm, relaxing guesthouse and a modern, classy hotel) – but it also doubles as a perfect getaway venue for corporate groups.

Le Petit Chateau Guest House possesses both a Cape and African charm, particularly with its laid-back architecture and inspired interiors. This is evident from the moment you enter the reception area, as beautiful wall murals, artful, woven lamp shades and so much more, echo strongly of Africa.

Where a sense of homeliness meets classy city accommodation

This cosy, welcoming guesthouse offers both the self-catering cottage, Burnt Clay, (ideal for couples, young families or even groups of friends who wish to stay together) and five elegant, tastefully decked out suites.

Le Petit Chateau Guest House’s integral heart

But perhaps the most incredible part of Le Petit Chateau is its dining room and lounge area.

It forms an essential heart of this elegant guesthouse. Here, dining becomes a joy – and you yearn to linger longer by the roaring fire or airy, glass doors… Particularly as you contemplate life over their delicious, freshly brewed coffee and generous, tasty food, quickly and tastefully prepared by Le Petit Chateau’s chef and co-host, Eric.

On that note: There is a great choice of dinners and breakfasts to enjoy at Le Petit Chateau – but I’ll expand more on that further in!

Eco-friendly practices

Le Petit Chateau is owned and managed by Molo Lolo, ‘a hospitality brand with a difference’, as their slogan goes. And this is true in more than one way – it’s not just the excellent communication and front-desk skills they portray, for service is slick and smooth throughout.

More than that though, Molo Lolo cares – and it shows. For one, they passionately practice eco-friendly ethics.

At Le Petit Chateau, this evidences itself in the water-friendly measures in place. For example, bottled drinking water is available as required, for free and they have adopted the ‘If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down,’ method for toilet flushes – while, for showering, it’s water bucket process… (For those who don’t know, the concept is simple: Shower over the bucket and use that water to flush when you must.)

In fact, in the bathroom, I was impressed to see their own water restriction notice and hand sanitiser. And, in spite of the opulent, never-ending expanse of the modern shower, I still found a water bucket in there.

This is something that I feel perhaps, behind-the-scenes, not all guesthouses, hotels and foreign visitors have necessarily adopted – even though, due to the Western Cape’s most severe drought, the rest of Cape Town has been stuck on this tentative system for months now.

These small measures went a long way towards impressing me. As did the lovely, gorgeous smelling and altogether personalised Le Petit Chateau toiletries, which are purely organic.

But there was more… Le Petit Chateau – which previously offered a fully functional Jacuzzi and swimming pool, with a lovely, green garden space outside (which, though it is understandably drier now, is still lovely) – has had to cut back for the time being… Although their borehole might fix that issue in time for summer.

Giving back – and fair trade tourism

No doubt these earth-conscious practices stem directly from Molo Lolo, as they are a firmly eco-friendly and fair trade tourism brand.

Aside from their eco-friendly policies, Molo Lolo and Le Petit Chateau also have a ‘give back’ business mentality – which is both refreshing and inspiring to read about.

For example, they have partnered with Safe Cities and the Red Zebra Foundation. Both of these are aimed at helping less fortunate, low income communities and disadvantaged youth to live more empowered, happier and healthier lives.

Well done to both Molo Lolo and Le Petit Chateau for these brave and thoughtful endeavours; it’s wonderful to see!

In-room touches

Aside from the fully stocked bar fridge (which contained water, cool drinks, BOS ice tea and some beers) in their room, guests can also choose from a selection of local wines to enjoy at Le Petit Chateau.

Both the mini fridge and wines work on an honesty bar/wine corner policy. This means you’re given a sheet to fill out whenever you enjoy something – and then, when you settle your final account, you pay for those items too.

There is also a full, in-room coffee and tea tray available. This allows you to make plunger coffee, tea or instant coffee.

When late afternoon came, I enjoyed brewing some delicious coffee and enjoying the lovely views from my room, while snuggled up beneath the cosy, plush blankets found in my room. 🙂

Other in-room amenities include:

Desk and chair

DVD player

Armchair

Aircon

Wall-heating panel

Ceiling fan

Secure safe

Hairdryer

Organic toiletries

Multi-purpose plug points

(Oh and, along with your room key, you’ll be given a remote for the main security gate and a spare key for reception. This allows you to come and go as needed.)

Once you decide to call it a day, prepare to drift off to a peaceful sleep because Le Petit Chateau – and its surrounding area – is blissfully quiet at night. In fact, it was so quiet, I almost wasn’t used to that level of peacefulness in the city!

And, when you wake fully rested, it’s time to eat… Breakfast is served downstairs from 7:00 am – 9:00 am daily. (During summer, if you can, you might even want to eat outside in the garden area…)

I was delighted to enter the breakfast and lounge area and find each table thoughtfully decked out with condiments, two bottles of jams and butter, as well as set place mats. The rooms looked really lovely in the gentle morning light – and the softly playing music and roaring corner fire really enhanced the cosy atmosphere.

Having selected a table near the glass door, I walked over to browse the breakfast buffet. This offers guests an ample amount of food and freshly brewed coffee and instant coffee/tea choices.

Some like it hot…

Once I had enjoyed some great coffee, it was time to order a hot breakfast. There was a choice between African, English or French hot breakfasts, all of which sounded good! (Note: Breakfast is included in your overall room price.)

I opted for African, which usually comes with: boerewors, Magwinya (a type of African bread) and eggs done how you like them (given a choice between scrambled or fried, I opted for scrambled).

Sadly, there was no boerewors and they were waiting for the Magwinya bread (which was the main reason I ordered African) to be delivered – so I had pork sausages and white bread instead.

The breakfast – speedily and tastily whipped up by Eric – was great and very generous in terms of its portioning. Overall, I found the African breakfast filling and tasty (and deserving of an 8/10 rating), but maybe regretted not going for the fully loaded English breakfast. That offers grilled pork sausage, back bacon, baked beans, two eggs, grilled tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and potatoes… but I’ve had that before at a few places, so I guess change is fun sometimes. 🙂

Breakfast was actually one of my stay’s highlights. And sitting there in the lovely breakfast room, with a cup of good coffee in hand (after a good night’s rest), is sure to charm more than a few, I’m sure.

Once I had packed and settled my honesty bar bill, it was time to part ways with Le Petit Chateau and my amiable hosts, Divine and Eric, both of whom really have their sense of hospitality down to a tee.

Le Petit Chateau: A memorable city stay

On the whole, Le Petit Chateau makes for an entirely memorable and comfortable luxury city stay, without placing you in the heat of frenetic city goings, as can be the case in the CBD.

The slower, quieter pace of Durbanville life makes for a pleasurable experience, which leaves you feeling well-rested and pampered.

Divine and Eric were exemplary – and there was nothing I could fault about their correspondence and in-person interactions and service. The same applies to all the Molo Lolo staff and representatives I dealt with prior to and after my one-night stay.

Overall, my stay at Le Petit Chateau deserves a stellar 8.5/10 rating for the following: a good setting in the Northern Suburbs; cosy, comfortable atmosphere throughout; professional, welcoming staff, good value-for-money (pricing ranges between R590 – R1420, with R500 for children aged 3-12 years; breakfast is included in the per person cost); four-star accommodation; excellent food options – and most of all, a warm and luxurious in-room experience…

I can strongly recommend Le Petit Chateau (particularly to those visiting Cape Town’s Northern Suburbs) – and I am sure the rest of the Molo Lolo offerings – Addo African Home, Lolo House and Molo Lolo Lodge – are all equally delightful and slickly run!

Thank you very much to Le Petit Chateau and the following staff members – Divine, Eric, Marjolaine and Baptiste – for ensuring an altogether memorable and pleasant city stay… I loved every minute with you!

For more information on Le Petit Chateau and all it offers, please contact them directly on: +27 (021) 422 041 or (021) 976 0128, or email them at Info@lepetitchateau.co.za or reservations@molololo.com.

You can also visit their website or find them for yourself at: Le Petit Chateau Guest House, 14 Agulhas Crescent, Nerina, Durbanville, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa.

Le Petit Chateau is also on some leading social media platforms, so be sure to connect with and follow them on Facebook or Instagram.

Content writer by day and blogger by night, Tamlyn Ryan passionately runs her own travel blog, called Tamlyn Amber Wanderlust, from her home base of Cape Town, South Africa. And, despite a national diploma in Journalism, in her free time, Tamlyn’s preferred niche remains travel writing.

Tamlyn is a hopeless wanderer, equipped with an endless passion for road trips, carefully planned, holiday itineraries and, above all else, an innate love for the great outdoors.